Regional & Seasonal: The Pumpkin Patch Produce, East Yorkshire

In readiness for Halloween, families descend on an East Yorkshire farm to select a pumpkin perfect for carving

AS AUTUMN REACHES its zenith, mellow days begin to fade with quick succession, while the hours of twilight linger, and darkness holds. Patchwork trees glow in shades of gold, russet and bronze between the coppery carpets of fallen leaf litter, where dappled light casts moments of beauty that are so fleeting, they are like breath on a mirror. A renewed freshness is in the air, the wind crisp and cool with the musky scents of pine cones and fir.

It is the month of October; of thick coats, scarves and Wellington boots; of slanted light and illuminated breath; a month of autumn harvest and rich fruitage, where fields are aglow with the radiant colours of nature’s bounty. And for The Pumpkin Patch Produce, in Bewholme, East Yorkshire, it is one of the busiest months of the year. With ‘pick your own’ season in full force, parents and children are gathered on the farm to marvel at the tumbling mountain of pumpkins, squashes and decorative gourds on display in the barn, or to wander the fields in search of their own. Young faces run between the freshly cut fruits, eager to find the biggest and best: some for their culinary purposes; others to be carved with ghoulish designs ready for All Hallows’ Eve; a tradition now woven into British culture.

“We love to see the exhilaration on people’s faces as they come to look at the display or to get out into the field,” says owner Jason Butler, who has been working on the farm for 11 years. “To watch both young and old get so excited is a great thing to see.”

At this time of year, the fields shine luminous with more than 30 varieties, in rainbow hues of green, crimson, silvery blue, yellow, white and the more familiar bright orange. These include ‘Gladiator’, which is a round, deep orange pumpkin, with thick handles, and ‘Crown Prince’, a silvery grey culinary squash, with a vibrant orange centre, perfect for warming soups.

“Every seed is sown by hand into trays filled with compost in April. Once matured, the plants are then hand-fed into a planting machine and sown in the field at the end of May, after the frosts have passed,” explains Jason. This is a far cry from the farm’s first growing season in 2010, which saw 1,000 pumpkin plants hand-planted into just a quarter of an acre of land.

“At the time, I was a full-time agricultural engineer. We made a couple of cold frames to raise the plants, which we still use today. To sell them, we sent out letters to potential buyers, including local greengrocers. Some were even sold from the farm gate to passers-by. Many of our first customers are still with us today.”

The farm now spans 12 acres of cultivated farmland, with large polytunnels and greenhouses to raise the plants. “It is very much a family business, with four generations helping out, from our three-year-old twin girls, Chloe and Holly, to ‘Nana’, who is 89 years old. We welcome people to come and learn how we produce everything, from Young Farmers’ Clubs to school trips and nursery visits.

“It is quite humbling to start off with packets of seeds and watch them grow into a colourful harvest. I’ve grown up in farming, so it’s easy to become complacent and forget to appreciate the beauty in what we do,” admits Jason. And as the light fades on another day at the farm, smiling faces carry home their bounty to be carved that evening: a jack-o’-lantern to ward off evil spirits by the light of a flickering candle.